


A disappointing dessert

by FraRivers



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, No Spoilers, Post-Season/Series 06, Pre-Slash, Sad Lance (Voltron), Slice of Life, Written before the actual season 6, sparkly alien flour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 13:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14137173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FraRivers/pseuds/FraRivers
Summary: “Hunk, are you 100% sure about this? I mean, it's purple.” Lance poked at the sack with his finger, only to have Hunk bat it away.“Eggplants are purple too, Lance.”Lance gasped and brought his hand to his chest, squinting at the other boy in betrayal. “Yeah, but this stuff... sparkles. Eggplants don't sparkle, Hunk.”---In which Hunk bakes and Lance opens up during his training session with Keith.





	A disappointing dessert

**Author's Note:**

> This ff takes place during an hypothetical season seven, in which Keith is back on team (because he will) and the Empire Resistance is a thing (because it's cool). Enjoy!

Lance placed the bucket on the kitchen table, careful not to let any of the milk spill. Kaltenecker had been kind enough to provide it for them and it wouldn't do to waste it. After all, fresh milk in the mornings was one of the few things that remained the same from their life on Earth. Or it would be, if they had mornings. 

It was just him and Hunk in the kitchen, the other Paladins too tired after the mission. The Melitzans were friendly enough, but the Empire Resistance outpost had been an unpleasant surprise. In the end the locals had been so grateful for their help that they'd gifted them a very rare and very peculiar-looking flour. 

“Hunk, are you 100% sure about this? I mean, it's purple.” Lance poked at the sack with his finger, only to have Hunk bat it away. 

“Eggplants are purple too, Lance.” 

Lance gasped and brought his hand to his chest, squinting at the other boy in betrayal. “Yeah, but this stuff... sparkles. Eggplants don't sparkle, Hunk.”

“They do if they're alien wheat.” Hunk shrugged. 

“This... doesn't even make sense” said Lance, picking up a spoon and twirling it around in a nervous gesture. 

Hunk raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on it. “It's just flour, Lance. Coran assured me it's edible.”

“The green goo is edible too, according to Coran...”

Hunk gave him a pointed look. “Lance. Do you want a cheesecake or not?”

“Yes...” 

“Good. Then go and let me work the magic.” 

Lance put down the spoon and slumped on the table, considering his options. If he stayed, Hunk wouldn't ask him to go away again. He valued his alone time in the kitchen, but he also had the -somewhat unsettling- ability to pick up on other people's moods, even when they tried to hide them. This whole cake endeavor had started because of that, after all. Besides, Lance was too restless to sit still and watch him bake, he would end up knocking over the milk or something equally embarrassing. Like bursting into tears. 

He threw Hunk a peace sign. “You do that!” he said, straightening up from the table, a safe distance away from the sparkling sack of flour. “Meanwhile, I'm gonna get my chill on. Maybe relax in the pool or something.”

–

He actually considered going all the way back to his room to change into his swim trunk, but ended up wandering aimlessly around the castle. He spotted Coran fumbling with an air vent but, apart from him, the halls were hauntingly empty. The mission on Melitz had been long and tiring, the Resistance outpost a particularly well organized, and well hidden, one. Hunk had pushed away his tiredness in order to bake the cheesecake -Lance felt a physically painful rush of guilt at the thought- but the other Paladins were probably all passed away on their beds. He passed the living room (empty) and the video-game room (also empty), before his feet brought him to a very familiar place. 

The training room should have been empty too, but he could hear faint noises and huffs coming from within. He slid the door open and couldn't avoid a small smile to grow on his lips. Keith. Of course Keith was training instead of resting like any other sensible person. 

He was practicing with his bayard, basic sword positions and parries. He'd changed from his Paladin armor, and his thin black shirt was already sticking to his body with sweat. Keith acknowledged Lance's presence with a slight nod, never breaking his concentration. His movements were fluid and powerful, his training with the Blades visible in the way he jumped higher, landed silently, lunged so quickly it was almost impossible to follow his movements. 

Lance smiled again and closed the door behind him. “Keeeeith, Hunk was bullying me!” he whined, joining the other boy on the training mat with his bayard in hand. It immediately transformed into the familiar Altean Broad Sword as they took their starting positions in front of each other. Keith slowly raised and eyebrow. 

“He was!”

“What did he do?” Keith attacked him with his shorter sword and Lance barely parried it. “Straighten your back.” he added, giving Lance a considering look. 

Lance parried another attack, tried one of his own that was easily overcome, and went back into the starting position, carefully evaluating Keith's next move. “He's... baking me a cheesecake?”

Keith's other eyebrow joined it's twin, disappearing under his bangs. 

“With sparkly purple flour, Keith!Do you understand the gravity of this situation?” 

Keith shrugged and motioned for him to attack again. “I don't see the problem”

“Um,” Lance didn't meet his gaze. He tried another move, but his head wasn't into and it was easily diverted. 

“Lance. Are you OK?”

“Yes, it's nothing.” he hurriedly said, forcing a smile. He attacked again but Keith parried, making him lose his grip on the broad sword. It fell on the floor and transformed back in the basic bayard form. Lance didn't pick it up again. He gave up on trying to train and turned his back on Keith, so he wouldn't see his eyes watering. They stood like that for a while, none of them knowing what to say. 

When he finally spoke, Lance hoped his voice didn't sound too broken. “I-it's just. I know Hunk is doing his best, I know. It's just-” he hesitated “It's just the first time my mom isn't baking a cake for my birthday.” 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, the soft touch warming up his skin and making him shiver. “Lance... is it your birthday?Why didn't you say anything?” asked Keith, his voice as soft as his touch. 

“I mean, I'm not even sure.” Lance shrugged and laughed, but it sounded hollow even to his own ears. “Hunk and I, we were trying to finish those calculations-you know, the ones Pidge started last week.” Keith nodded. “And yeah, it should be around the end of July back on Earth...” 

He heard more than saw Keith gracefully sit on the floor. And then again, a soft touch on the back of his calf, gripping the fabric of his jeans and motioning for him to follow. Lance did. 

It was comfortable, nice even, to sit on the mat next to Keith, their arms barely touching. It was nice to open up to him. Their start had been turbulent, to say the least, but they were teammates now. Friends. Best friends, even. 

“We have a tradition, my mom and I.” he continued and Keith hummed in acknowledgment. “She makes me a different cake every year. Well, used to. She-she's a great cook generally, but she's just terrible with cakes.” Lance laughed and dared a look at Keith's face, to gauge his reaction. His eyes were surprisingly gentle, but he had this little furrow between his eyebrows that made Lance want to reach out and straighten it. He resisted the urge. 

“Every year she would try a different type of dessert, but they were all so terrible, Keith. So disappointing. This one time, she put salt instead of sugar in the cupcakes and my brother was so red in the face trying to swallow it-” They both burst up laughing. Lance found out he really liked Keith's laugh, so he kept telling him small anecdotes about his mom's baking disasters. 

They ended up sprawled on the mat, laughing their faces off, and didn't even realize when Hunk peeked into the room. He cleared his throat and waved at them. “Hey, Lance, the cake is ready”. 

Lance gave Hunk a wide smile and the thumbs up, he got up and offered his hand to Keith. 

–

All the paladins-plus Coran and Lotor- sat at kitchen table, chatting among themselves. They had taught the birthday song to the Alteans and sang it to Lance. It had been hilarious, especially since Coran kept confusing the tune and singing it at a much slower or faster rhythm. And the look on Lotor's face had been just priceless. Lance wished he could see him in a party hat one day. 

Lance grinned at the thought and scooped up the first bite of cheesecake with his fork. He brought it to his lips and immediately made a face. “Hunk, this is... this is so disgusting!” he exclaimed, unable to stop a laugh to come out of him. He exchanged a quick look with Keith, who smiled back at him.

“Oh,” exhaled Hunk, “it must be the purple flour, you were right. The cookies for the base were a bit weird -I mean, besides the sparkles-a bit pasty.” He bit his lips, “Are-are you disappointed?”

Lance smiled again, thinking about his family back on Earth, and about the friends he had there on the Castle ship. He shook his head. “No. It's perfect”.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [maravding](https://maravding.tumblr.com) for beta-reading and to [ahleksi](https://ahleksi.tumblr.com) for giving me "A disappointing dessert" as a prompt :)  
>   
> Let me know what you think and come say hi on [tumblr](https://frarivers.tumblr.com)!  
>   
> [Italian version](https://efpfanfic.net/viewstory.php?sid=3756285&i=1)


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